Max_Caine

I don't think Chris has. He'd be the one to decide what, if any future content went into the game.

Taking weapon 1a and using weapon 1b's ammo does work. The problem there is you have to use all of weapon 1a's ammo first (as each Unlimited weapon comes preloaded) in ground combat.

Aside from being a help to modders, I think it would be useful for the ground combat in general, as I see there are a large variety of rockets the rocket launcher can have, and I find it clunky to go through into the inventory screen each time I use a rocket. for the same reason, an unload function would also be useful if I want to mix and match my rockets to the situation at hand.

Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Hicks. Bear in mind a) that timetable isn't set in stone and b) the developers are focussing on features rather than bugfixes.

Does it seem to you with video games the journey is often more interesting than the destination? I've just finished playing Bastion for the first time. The Tazal Terminals were an awesome level. Some really shocking things revealed nearing the end. But when it came to the end... I expected.. I expected.. well, I didn't know quite what to expect, but I expected far more than what I got. For me, it was a real anti-climax. I felt dissapointed and more than a little let down. And I got to thinking, well hey, this is true for quite a lot of the games that I have played. It was true for Mass Effect 3 (haven't seen the extended cut yet - still playing through on insane difficulty). It was true for Fallout 3. I didn't care much for the ending to SPAZ, or King's Bounty. None of the Civ endings have ever made me feel "well, that was well worth 40+ hours of blood, sweat and tears". But going back to Bastion, the Narrator throughout the game helps to create a real sense of immersion in the game. Heck, I could happily play more of Bastion and never need a big finish, because the game in of itself is enough for me. With Fallout 3, if they had worked out a procedural sidequest system, ye gods, I don't think I would have ever touched the main quest unless I felt bored and out of sorts. Do games really need the big finish? Is the act of playing an engaging and immersive game sufficent to the needs of the player, or does it need the "pop" at the end to reward the player for everything they have done to get there? Should the destination be more interesting than the journey?

I'm having quite the struggle trying to get one weapon to a) display 2 ammo types for one weapon on the UI and b) making both ammo types usable in-game. The closest I have got so far is to make the same weapon (in this case, the assault rifle) twice in weapons.xml, one with the normal ammo type, one with the exotic ammo type (which have been properly defined in ammos.xml, items.xml, weapons_gc.xml and strings.xml). I can then assign ammo clips from weapon 1b to a solider carrying weapon 1a, and then when the solider exhausts the clip on weapon 1a, he can then load clips from weapon 1b into weapon 1a. I have tried: Defining the exotic ammo (henceforth known as EA) as a weapon.grenade.EA and assigning it as an ammo type in weapons_gc.xml, but while it shows up on the base and gc UI correctly, it will not load into the weapon Defining the EA as a weapon.EA type (like rockets), but that crashes the base UI Defining the EA as a standalone ammo.ballistic.EA type in weapons.xml, but that crashes the base UI. Someone cleverer than me got any ideas?

Hell yeah!

I load up on LMGs, Precision Rifles and Rocket launchers. Terror Mission maps are far too open for shotguns, and they usually feature the higher class of bad guy. I find with assault rifles I'm pouring magazine after magazine into bad guys with little effect, and they then pull out the heavy plasma and give me a very bad day. If you want to overcome the problems with weight, I took a tip from RoTGtIe, and overloaded my troopers with gear from day 1. They quickly build up their strangth stat (especially if you kit them out with LMGs and rocket launchers), then you never have to worry about overloading again.

Hardball.. which build and how much of it have you played? One of the most common complaints is that there are too many UFOs for the starting player to deal with. Just because the radar on your base detects a percentage of the UFOs flying around the geoscape doesn't mean there aren't more flying around the geoscape! And, are you aware there is a map editor, and that people have been using it? EDIT: you may want to look at the overview for Xenonauts. Here it is. However, I don't believe you are going to be satisfied with the answers it gives.

As a nacent modder, I would like to make exotic weaponry that doesn't stand a fart in hell's chance of getting into the vanilla version. For example, being inspired by , I would dearly like to make a power fist. Now, there's nothing in the existing dataset that doesn't mean that I couldn't make it already (I would have to find someone to make the spritesheets, but that's another story), however the existing damage type dataset is designed around a predesigned list of weapons and is therefore predisposed to producing those types of weapons. The amount of wiggle room in producing exotic weapons is therefore necessarily limited. Would it be possible to include more exotic damage types that would not necessarily see use in vanilla weapons, but would permit modders to produce a larger variety of exotic weaponry?For example: An AP damage type. This could represent weapons that rend and tear (such as the aforementioned power fist), crippling and damaging units. A Bravery damage type. This could represent hallucinogenic gasses (such as a coeresion gas) and the scary factor of a flamethrower An auto-bleeding damage type. This could represent weapons that are especially good at targetting vital spots

For want of an s, the forum was lost.

Could you talk us through what you do in the first month? Where do you set up your first base? What expansion plans (if any) do you take? What territories do you cover? After all, you start with 4 million. Where does that all go?

Are you trying to play a game from a previous savegame? Because if you are, forget it, wipe your savegames and start fresh. Savegames from previous versions break. And there's no chance that you'll be able to get v12.11 from anywhere except Desura (either via client or not via client). No-one else alphafunds games.

Part 2. Let's start this post with researching an item. The first step is to introduce the researchable item to the list of things that can be researched, and what they unlock when finished researching. Before I make it researchable or manufacturable, I have to make a change to the “finished product” in items.xml (weapons.stungun). I have to change the third data entry from “Unlimited” to “Normal”. By setting it so, the game will automatically treat it as a manufacturable item. A “finished good” has three stages. Research. Manufacture. Finished Item. These are discrete phases, and each phase has its own markup and content. And yes, you will have to put the same item in multiple times into strings.xml and once more into items.xml to reflect these changes. There are three similar files which affect what can be researched. researches_public.xml, which seems to be a master list of everything that can be researched. researches_.xml which looks like a cut down version of researches_public and researches.xml, which looks like an even furture cut down version of both. As far as I can tell, Xenonauts draws all the items that you can research only from researches.xml. This may change, who knows, but researches_ didn't seem to do anything when I altered it and changed it back. I have to add a new entry to researches.xml for the new item. This will be for the stun rifle only, as I don't have a unique graphic for the ammo, I can't make it researchable or manufacturable. Arse. Something for the future then! So, adding the new researchable item: <Row ss:AutoFitHeight="0" ss:Height="76.5"> <Cell ss:StyleID="s71"><Data ss:Type="String">Researches.StunGun</Data></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s70"><Data ss:Type="Number">10</Data></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s72"><Data ss:Type="String">Weaponary</Data></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s77"><Data ss:Type="String">Researches.AlienBiology</Data></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s70"/> <Cell ss:StyleID="s78"><Data ss:Type="String">UnlockKnowledge( "Researches.StunGun" ); UnlockManufacture( "ManTech.StunGun" );</Data></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s73"><Data ss:Type="String">Researches.StunGun</Data></Cell> </Row> Naturally, you should do this in Excel. Either that or keep a good count of the cell numbers and add it to the end. It only takes 10 days to research, so to get an “Excellent” rating you only require 5 scientists. But this is all for example purposes. Always start a researchable item's descriptor as “Researches”. While “Weaponary” looks wrong, don't correct it. That's what the game reads “Weaponry” to be. The forth line indicates which researches (if any) you have to do before you can research this item. This being a simple example only has one prerequisite, but if you take a look at the more involved items, you can see how complex it can get! The next file to adjust is xenopedia.xml. This is perhaps the most pleasurable of all the files to adjust, as you can do a little creative writing here when adding your new bit of kit. <Row ss:AutoFitHeight="0" ss:Height="229.5"> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Researches.StunGun</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Stun Rifle</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">xenopediaimages/placeholder</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Xenonaut Weaponry</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Weapon Classes</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">NULL</Data></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s68"><Data ss:Type="String">This is test text</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">xenopediaimages/placeholder</Data></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s66"><Data ss:Type="String"><font size="19" face="fonts/xenonauts.mvec">SUMMARY:</font><font size="5"> </font><font size="12"> <font face="fonts/tahoma.mvec">>> </font><font face="fonts/xenonauts.mvec">we have developed a weapon capable of stunning aliens <font size="6"> </font> <font face="fonts/tahoma.mvec">>> </font>Shocker ammo deals high stun but low physical damage<font size="6"> </font> <font face="fonts/tahoma.mvec">>> </font>shocker darts must be loaded one at a time<font size="6"> </font <font size="30"> </font>><font size="19" face="fonts/xenonauts.mvec">REPORT:</font><font size="15" face="fonts/tahoma.mvec"> If we are to win this war we need to interrogate live specimens, but we have had difficulty in subduing aliens. The most effective means to date is are stun batons which deliver a powerful incapacitating electrical shock, but this puts our soldiers in an unacceptably hazardous situation. Experiments with tranquilisers have so far met with failure. We have not yet found a broad-spectrum drug that will affect all the different racial types encountered so far with equal force. However, our greater understanding of alien nervous systems has lead to a ranged version of the stun baton. The stun gun fires a heavy dart which delivers a calibrated series of electrical shocks, designed to cause maximum disorientation to nervous systems and logic processing centres, while minimising physical damage. Due to limitations in battery technology the amount of damage a single dart can cause is limited, so be aware that you may need more than one dart to stun a target. The darts require a variety of rare earths which makes them expensive to manufacture. Our engineers have adapted a powerful high-end sniper rifle to ensure they hit their target at a reasonable range. Darts must be loaded into the rifle one at a time, so ensure that your ablest snipers are equipped. </font></Data></Cell> </Row> EDIT: Please note that there are some sections in this code fragment which I cannot replicate, no matter how I try. The best solutio is to look at other xenopedia entries to see how it was done. There are two different xenopedia entries. The first entry is whatever you choose to put in the Xenopedia. The second entry is whatever you choose to enter in the popup that appears when you research an item. Note that you can make both very different. You can have two completely different graphics, one for the popup, one for the xenopedia. The popup research text must follow the format of SUMMARY: <text> then REPORT: <text>. Once I've added the xenopedia entry, I have to then make a strings.xml entry for it. <Row ss:AutoFitHeight="0"> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Researches.StunGun</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Stun Rifle</Data></Cell> </Row> Or it will be listed as #### in the research screen. Now we can research it, it needs to be manufactured. Off we go to manufactures.xml <Row> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">ManTech.StunGun</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">SoldierWeapons</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="Number">10</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="Number">5000</Data></Cell> <Cell ss:Index="8"><Data ss:Type="String">StockItem( "weapon.stungun" );</Data></Cell> </Row> You can cut and paste from the laser gun setup to do this (I did). The important thing to remember is to start your description of the manufacturable good with “ManTech”. Almost done! Now you have to update strings.xml As a stocked item: <Row ss:AutoFitHeight="0"> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Items.StunGun</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Stun Rifle</Data></Cell> </Row> And as manufacturable item name: <Row ss:AutoFitHeight="0"> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">ManTech.StunGun</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Stun Rifle</Data></Cell> </Row> Then update items.xml As a stocked item: <Row ss:AutoFitHeight="0"> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Items.StunGun</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="Number">20000</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Normal</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">items/assaultrifle</Data></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s64"><Data ss:Type="String">Item.Dispose.Destroyed</Data></Cell> </Row> The second thing to remember is whatever you name the researchable item does not have to marry up with the manufactured item, or the finished good. i.e. I could have Researches.FunnyBone unlock ManTech.TickleStick which makes weapon.nuclearbomb. And that's all! It worked for me, but I may have missed out something. The only thing I couldn't work out is how to get a “research description” or “manufacture description”. QM, Gauddlike, any ideas?

I pointed out that I used the precision rifle ammo type earlier on. This is because I don't have a unique ammo graphic for the stun rifle, so I used the closest fit. But by doing this, I can't make the ammo researchable or manufacturable, only the rifle. If I altered the precision rifle ammo to do that, then it would (as far as I can tell) affect ammo for the precision rifle as well (i.e. I would have to manufacture it). However, I can alter the ammo statistic within the weapon descriptor in weapons_gc.xml without affecting how precision rifle ammo works. But, let's say that I did have a unique ammo graphic. Then I would have altered several files. After putting the ammo graphic in /weapons/ballistic/ I would have altered ammos.xml. <Ammo name="ammo.ballistic.stungun"> <stockTextureName>weapons/ballistic/stungun_ammo</stockTextureName> <dragTextureName>weapons/ballistic/stungun_ammo</dragTextureName> <slotsizex>1</slotsizex> <slotsizey>1</slotsizey> </Ammo> I would have to make sure this ammo type was also in weapons.xml and weapons_gc.xml in the stungun ammo markup. I would also have to make up new markups and content (hopefully in Excel) in items.xml and strings.xml, using the same process as previously described.

Well... wouldn't it be nice to think that you were the reason for that UK expansion?

I'm still working on the second half - it's taking time to compose my thoughts coherantly. QM, unfortunately I don't have Excel, only OpenOffice, which is good most of the time but not when it comes to these files - I had to alter them manually. That said, yes, I agree that they should be altered in Excel if at all possible.

I've been interested for a while learning how to make new weapons and equipment for Xenonauts, and having had some successful attempts, I would like to share what I did to create a new gun for the game. At this point, I'd like to give a big shoutout to Gauddlike and Quartermaster. I found their posts and the work they did on the Xenonauts wiki very useful. The design brief I set for myself was to create a stun rifle, basically a ranged version of the stun baton. It should be researched (after Alien Biology is researched) and manufacturable (both rifle and ammo). The weapon is a high-powered rifle, adapted to fire a dart which delivers a powerful electrical shock to the victim. First place to go is weapons_gc.xml, where you set up the stats for the weapon. <Weapon name="weapon.stungun" bulletType="normal" emptySound="Empty Click 1" reactionModifier="0.8"> <props range="26" hands="2" recoil="0" weight="6.5" isHeavy="1" clipSize="1" reloadAPCost="15" reloadSound="Weapon Precision Rifle Reload" /> <SingleShot sound="Weapon Sniper Single" suppressionValue="0" suppressionRadius="0"> <Set1 ap="21" accuracy="75" /> <Set2 ap="25" accuracy="95" /> <Set3 ap="28" accuracy="120" /> <Set4 ap="31" accuracy="150" /> </SingleShot> <BurstFire/> <GUIImage name="weapons/ballistic/alternative/PSG1.png"/> <GroundImage name="grounditemimages/assaultrifle.png"/> <Ammos> <Ammo name="ammo.ballistic.sniper" type="kinetic" damage="1" stunDamage="40" mitigation="100"> <Projectile spectre="projectiles/bullet/bullet" speed="1200" delay="2.5"/> <Impact spectre="particles/bulletplume/bulletplume"/> </Ammo> </Ammos> This is basically a cut-and-paste of the precision rifle entry, with some of the stats adjusted, a new name (weapon.stungun), and an alternate graphic used for the weapon. Note that the weapon has an absurdly high mitigation value and a very low damage value. This is because I found out that stun damage is currently dealt in addition to actual damage. No actual damage = no stun damage. So I set it to cause 1 point of damage, and to ensure it caused that point of damage, it mitigates all known armour. EDIT: Also please note I am using the ammo type for the precision rifle. This will come in important later. After the weapon is made, it has to be registered with several other files to make it a usable item. You have to add it to weapons.xml.This adds it to the base layout, along with statistics which will be displayed when you click on it. <Row ss:AutoFitHeight="0"> <Cell ss:StyleID="s63"><Data ss:Type="String">weapon.stungun</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s63"><Data ss:Type="String">weapons/ballistic/alternative/PSG1</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s63"><Data ss:Type="String">weapons/ballistic/alternative/PSG1</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s63"><Data ss:Type="String">ballistic</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s64"><Data ss:Type="Boolean">1</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s64"><Data ss:Type="Number">1</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s64"><Data ss:Type="Number">260</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s64"><Data ss:Type="Number">1</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s64"><Data ss:Type="Number">1.25</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s64"><Data ss:Type="Number">6.5</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s64"><Data ss:Type="Number">5</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s64"><Data ss:Type="Number">2</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s63"><Data ss:Type="String">ammo.ballistic.sniper</Data><NamedCell ss:Name="_FilterDatabase"/></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s64"><Data ss:Type="Number">18</Data></Cell> </Row> You then have to add it to items.xml. This registers the item with the game in general. <Row ss:AutoFitHeight="0"> <Cell ss:StyleID="s69"><Data ss:Type="String">weapon.stungun</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="Number">1000</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Unlimited</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">weapons/airplane/rocket</Data></Cell> <Cell ss:StyleID="s64"><Data ss:Type="String">Item.Dispose.Destroyed</Data></Cell> </Row> Take a look at the third data row “Unlimited”. This variable when set to unlimited will make the item appear on the solider screen straight away. (I do this for testing purposes). Now, we're not done yet! The name weapon.stungun is understood by the game, but may be confusing to the player. There is a file called strings.xml, where I then put a description string for weapon.stungun so it comes up all pretty if I mouseover on it. <Row ss:AutoFitHeight="0"> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">weapon.stungun</Data></Cell> <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Stun Rifle</Data></Cell> </Row> Then finally, you have to add spectre files for the weapon so soldiers can carry it in the ground combat. To do that, from the /assets directory go into the /units/xenonaut/ directory. Then for every armour type (basic, jackal, wolf), go into the respective directory (e.g. for jackal /units/xenonaut/jackal/) and create a new directory with the weapon name as defined in weapons_gc.xml. So I created a weapon.stungun directory ( /units/xenonaut/jackal/weapon.stungun/ ), then copy and paste the most appropriate soldier spectre file from the other directories, or make up your own spectre file if you have unique art assets. (so I copied soldier_spectre.xml from weapon.sniper as the rifles look the same). At that point, I've done enough to create a new weapon. If I now start a game and go to the solider tab in the base, I will see the stun rifle. If I mouseover on the stun rifle, it will give up the description “stun rifle”. I will discuss research and manufacture in my next post (when I have written something worthwhile).

It depends on your game. The ticker increases by a small amount every in-game minute, but it also increases by a larger amount for certain types of ufo missions (research and scout especially) and also increases when ufos are on the map anyway. I found the 800 mark was reached for me 2 months in. And the ticker is a "master timer". All the ufo missions run off the ticker, and ufo escalation is also dependant on it as well.

Forums up again! Excellent! Lots of swearing was involved, I bet!

I'm annoyed that Eurogamers' "coverage" of Rezzed seems anything but. A few articles on a few of the presentations and that's it?

Don't get me wrong, it's fun having Bullet Bill, just seems a bit... excessive.

Okay, before you read the rest of this post, there's a webpage you need to go see. Go click on this link and read it if you don't know anything about Steam Greenlight. Back? Right then. I know that Chris announced that Goldhawk had got a deal to have Xenonauts on Steam. Goody goody. And this was announced a while ago. Even better. But now, with this new way of determining the order that Steam distributes games - a way which will fundamentally change some of the ways games will be distributed on Steam - will Goldhawk be retroactively required to undergo the new Steam greenlighting procedure? I'm not going to wave my arms about and start screaming, but I will be annoyed - with Steam - if Goldhawk has to do that.

Zeroczar, the best thing you can do is to play around with the figures and see what makes sense for you, then put up your findings in the modding forum. manufacures.xml has all the manufacturing details. Bear in mind that whatever you put up may be invalidated in the next build... but what the hell! Didn't stop me!

There;s the thing. The pistol's range is 10, the shotgun's is 8! I think that should be boosted to 13, as the rifle's range is 18.